Residents in a Ocala neighborhood could face charges after a convicted sex offender apparently committed suicide in despair over signs labeling him a "child rapist" posted in his neighborhood, according to Local 6 News.

Clovis Ivan Claxton, 38, who was convicted of sexually assaulting a child in Washington in 1991, had lived at 3230 SE. 45 Street in Ocala for about two years.

Tuesday, Claxton noticed bright yellow, laminated signs displaying his picture, date of birth, address and the words "child rapist" hanging on power poles in his neighborhood. A county commissioner proposed posting such information in the community but Sheriff Ed Dean rejected the idea.

After seeing the signs, Claxton called the sheriff's office and said that he felt "extremely scared and feels that people in the neighborhood are now out to possibly hurt him."

"Once he made these type statements our deputies took this man into custody under the Baker Act law and transported him to a local mental health facility for evaluation," Marion County Sheriff's Capt. Denis Strow said. "He was later released."

Tuesday morning, Claxton's parents found him dead of an apparent overdose with one of the child rapist flyers by his side.

Jane Claxton blames County Commissioner Randy Harris, who proposed the flyers, for her son's death, according to a report.

"Just don't get on the bandwagon," she said. "There's going to be other (deaths) if Randy Harris has his way. He hasn't been in trouble for 18 years, and he's branded for life."

Harris said sex offenders need to take responsibility for their actions.

"I don't blame his death to the signs," he said, adding he was undeterred in his quest to alert people to sex offenders living in their neighborhoods.

Dean said it is an example that police work should be left to authorities.

"We need to keep calm, do the right thing," Dean said. "Not go overboard with it. Protect our children. Use all of the resources we can but not stir a community up to a frenzy."

Claxton's death follows the high-profile arrests of sex offenders in the separate killings of two Florida girls less than seven weeks apart. State lawmakers have responded by passing a bill to require lifetime supervision of some child sex offenders.

State law allows for flyers to be printed and distributed, Local 6 News reported. But, altering the signs or flyers is against the law.

Claxton's address had been added to the top of the flyer along with the words "child rapist."

"It is a violation of the law," Strow said. "And should we find who perpretrated it, I'm sure it is a case that would be reviewed by the state's attorney office to see if they wish to pursue it."

The person responsible for the flyers faces up to 1 year in jail.

The sheriff's office is investigating and an autopsy was scheduled for Friday.

Marion County is located northwest of Orlando and has more than 600 registered sex offenders.

This thread has gone from a discussion (though heated, at times) to a "Get Monkey Face" kinda thing, don't you think?

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Priceless cluelessness. Darlin' don't go poking people and then rebuke them for defending themselves. If you can't take the heat, don't hand it out. We've all be soundly rebuffed at one time or another for something we've posted. It makes us better thinkers and more circumspect in our positions.

Yes. It cannot be "cured." One man, after years of molesting and finally having murdered a child during a molestation, begged the courts to allow him to be castrated, because, he told them, when he was released, he would do it again. He was one of the first predators studied, and he was the first to point out all the things that predators do in order to fool people into believing they have "changed."

The main thing he pointed out was that the orgasm ruled his life, and the lives of all other predators. The intricate lies they tell are paving the way toward more predation.

THANK YOU , THANK YOU , I see the "hand wringers" as total ENABLERS ,...as Bob Grant has said over and over , "they have served notice on society that they are not fit to live among us" ,you folks without kids , don't tell me to take chances where the odds are known to be slim to none, OK?

I believe that God CAN transform anyone who truly asks Him to do so. The problem is, we humans cannot ever know when that transformation has taken place, so we are entitled to be wary. We can even forgive him, but it is foolish not to keep track of these people.

"I believe that God CAN transform anyone who truly asks Him to do so. The problem is, we humans cannot ever know when that transformation has taken place, so we are entitled to be wary. We can even forgive him, but it is foolish not to keep track of these people."

Amen.

109
posted on 04/23/2005 3:00:41 PM PDT
by Monkey Face
(If you didn't know how old you really are, how old would you be?)

What's interesting is that you and I have more in common than you know, and I'm not out to get you...just out to get you to think.

We do not disagree on the main point that child molesters are pretty much given over to their depravity and need to be separated in whatever way from polite society forever.

I was merely toying with the idea of permanent, prominent "branding" for the loathesome creatures that are let out of jail. Personally, I don't think they should ever be let out of jail, because their desire for more and more perverted sensory input cannot be quenched. But in the practical world, I doubt that will ever be the case.

But, in observing the effect that "branding" has had on one abuser, I'm inclined to want to promote more of that sort of thing for the present. The abuser was shamed and terrified for his life, just like his victim. It fits the crime as well as can be hoped for if we're going to let them into free society.

IF (see the "if"?) a pedophile CAN repent, "branding" might just be more charitable to his eternal soul, a last effort at redemption, so to speak. It's a chance to bear his sin publicly, bear his shame publicly, and have to prove his sincerity daily, hourly, minute by minute.

There, but for the Grace of God, none of us dare go. If I were branded for my sins, I'd be a better person, alas!

He was a molester, it is clear of that. He had been arrested in 1991. They do not speak of his criminal record after 91.

From of the original post: "Just don't get on the bandwagon," she said. "There's going to be other (deaths) if Randy Harris has his way. He hasn't been in trouble for 18 years, and he's branded for life."

18 years is a long time.

And you have no idea the slippery slop this will lead too. Wait until the politically correct lynch crowd gets a hold of these regulations and uses them against US conservatives by falsely accusing us of racist, sexistism and bigotry; and it is YOU who have been branded a bigot for the rest of your life, with signs posted around where you live, listing you as a bigot, with your address and phone.

You are to blind to see the landmines you are creating for conservatives.

I am relieved that this man was human enough to feel guilty about his actions, enough so that when the larger community was confronted with them, he could not shrug off the shame. I only wish he was human enough to stop himself before he destroyed some poor child's life with his selfish evil.

Despite this, I would caution those who are eager to execute people for child molestation, particularly for the first offense. Don't get me wrong, I have absolutely no pity for these monsters, the Coueys and others who torture, sexually abuse, and violate our babies have no place on this earth and I would happily supply the ammo to executive them.

But the reality is that innocent people have gone to jail. Someone dear to me was accused of molesting his 1 year old son. This was a laughable accusation, since the man is a terrific father, the boy was very happy and well adjusted, and a excruiatingly thorough physical exam proved that the child not been molested. Further, the boy was experiencing a fusion problem with his foreskin because it hadn't been retracted enough!

CPS was happy to close the case, but the accusation is still out there. It changed the way this man interacted with his son for almost a year; he was afraid to get close to hug or comfort him, or show affection because he didn't want someone making another false claim.

My brother is also under the same dark cloud. He and his wife are going through an ugly, bitter divorce. She swore she would find a way to take his daughter from him, and has now launched the claim of sexual misconduct against him. CPS is investigating; I know it will be dismissed as unfounded, but he is angry and stunned by the experience.

Nobody wants innocent people punished. OTOH, charges of abuse that pop up during divorce proceedings are so common, that neither police nor social workers believe them, although they are duty-bound to investigate. Good luck to your brother. People who make false accusations are evil.

"What's interesting is that you and I have more in common than you know, and I'm not out to get you...just out to get you to think."

(I have to truly struggle over my posts, so you wanting me to "think" is a redundancy. Have you noticed how long it takes me to respond? CFIDS does not make being on FR an easy thing.)

"We do not disagree on the main point that child molesters are pretty much given over to their depravity and need to be separated in whatever way from polite society forever.

I was merely toying with the idea of permanent, prominent "branding" for the loathesome creatures that are let out of jail. Personally, I don't think they should ever be let out of jail, because their desire for more and more perverted sensory input cannot be quenched. But in the practical world, I doubt that will ever be the case."

If the world were made of conservatives, branding might be an option, as it was in some societies, hundreds of years ago. But now, we have to worry about the tree-huggers and hand-wringers and do-gooders. (I have some pretty strong ideas on that subject, too!) The closest we have to branding is internet sites that mark the predators' homes.

"But, in observing the effect that "branding" has had on one abuser, I'm inclined to want to promote more of that sort of thing for the present. The abuser was shamed and terrified for his life, just like his victim. It fits the crime as well as can be hoped for if we're going to let them into free society.

IF (see the "if"?) a pedophile CAN repent, "branding" might just be more charitable to his eternal soul, a last effort at redemption, so to speak. It's a chance to bear his sin publicly, bear his shame publicly, and have to prove his sincerity daily, hourly, minute by minute."

A pedophile CAN repent, if he wants. Just like a murderer. I have never heard of a pedophile who WANTED to repent. And that is what makes them so dangerous.

"There, but for the Grace of God, none of us dare go. If I were branded for my sins, I'd be a better person, alas!"

I think, if our sins were made public, we would be less inclined to repeat them. In our local paper when I was growing up, we got ALL the dirt. In the section with births, deaths and divorces, we were treated to who committed what crime on what day and where. Seldom ever did we see a name more than once. ;o]

114
posted on 04/23/2005 3:39:39 PM PDT
by Monkey Face
(If you didn't know how old you really are, how old would you be?)

These convicted pedophiles need to have a permanent scarlet colored mark tattoed on their forehead if they are released from prison. In fact...all violent criminals released from prison should have a permanent easily identifiable mark on their face as part of their sentence.

It is my personal belief that those that molest or rape children should be judged by those that have been raped or molested as children.

Amen. This sounds like a good idea. I am a person who was molested as a child not once but several times and by different people, because in the fifties and early sixties you were to scared to say anyting. The tricks these people use to get children to agree to these things are unreal. But let me tell you if you have daughters don't watch just the ones who have been caught, you better watch the ones who have never been caught also such as, their friend's fathers, brothers, grandfathers ect. One of the worst ones i saw when i was about 12 was a grandfather who would let the little girls drive his car around the back yard, of course you had to sit on his lap to do this while all the time he was fondling them but they didn't even notice because they were having a great time driving. How many do you think this man molested? He was never caught at it.

I beleive God can do anything. That being said, IF a sex offender became a Christian, I would hope he/she would ask NOT to be allowed out of prison. Some criminals, Christiann or not, cannot get away from their evil desires. It's better to pluck out one's eye...or in this case stay away from the temptations.

Residents in a Ocala neighborhood could face charges after a convicted sex offender apparently committed suicide in despair over signs labeling him a "child rapist" posted in his neighborhood, according to Local 6 News.

Clovis Ivan Claxton, 38, who was convicted of sexually assaulting a child in Washington in 1991, had lived at 3230 SE. 45 Street in Ocala for about two years.

(So, what did the residents do that was not true? Either he is a child molester or he isn't.)

Tuesday, Claxton noticed bright yellow, laminated signs displaying his picture, date of birth, address and the words "child rapist" hanging on power poles in his neighborhood. A county commissioner proposed posting such information in the community but Sheriff Ed Dean rejected the idea.

After seeing the signs, Claxton called the sheriff's office and said that he felt "extremely scared and feels that people in the neighborhood are now out to possibly hurt him."

(Gee, how does he think parents of children feel, knowing he is in their neighborhood?)

119
posted on 04/23/2005 4:16:43 PM PDT
by Netizen
(USA - Land of the free, home of the brave, where the handicapped are legally starved and dehydrated!)

The biggest threats to children are the sickos that are allowed to live in the home with the children - the ones their debased mothers drag home from the bars or assorted drug orgies. They don't murder the children and get national attention. They just molest them, beat them, and other horrifying things. That's where children are most at danger.

Good idea! Single women with children should not be allowed to have men spend the night while their children are in the home. That ought to be fun to enforce! /sarcasm

123
posted on 04/23/2005 4:41:36 PM PDT
by Netizen
(USA - Land of the free, home of the brave, where the handicapped are legally starved and dehydrated!)

Sounds like he was bound to do himself in. I don't blame the people for shaming him and alerting other parents of a pervert living there. NO sympathy for the devil here. NONE!

A few weeks ago I printed out our states sexual offender list and gave it to a friend of mine with a young daughter. There had already been attempts to nab kids in that area and a few blocks away there were reports of two other attemps, with different descriptions and vehicles.

I think people need to know about the perverts in their midst. The sad thing is that the perverts cannot afford to move to the wealthy areas so that the rich can enjoy the perverts too. Course, the same people living in their gated communities want the perverts to have more rights than their victims.

124
posted on 04/23/2005 4:46:54 PM PDT
by Netizen
(USA - Land of the free, home of the brave, where the handicapped are legally starved and dehydrated!)

It used to be in this country, that if a Man raped a woman and was convicted of such in a court of Law, he was taken out and hung by the neck until dead.

Rapes were rare occurances for that reason in places where there were established courts.

I don't recall ever hearing of a child being molested during those times, but I'm sure they occurred. I cannot imagine however, that they would have suffered anything LESS than a hanging for that same offense.

Much more, I would wager that they probably never would have made it to trial. They probably would have been taken out by the locals and pulled apart and their body parts burned at a crossroads at night.

I have zero sympathy for child molesters and child rapists. In my opinion they get what they deserve. Send them on to the supreme Judge of the Universe and let him decide that persons fate in the afterlife. He has no place among the living.

If he has been on the straight an narrow for almost 15 years, this was a horrible thing to do.

I think the article says that he was living there for 2 years. Where was he before? While he lived elsewhere how would the mother know how clean he was. Was he living behind bars prior to those 2 years?

129
posted on 04/23/2005 5:05:06 PM PDT
by Netizen
(USA - Land of the free, home of the brave, where the handicapped are legally starved and dehydrated!)

If that is the case, I gently suggest you learn how to communicate more effectively. Emotional outbursts are immature and show a lack intellect. I'm not saying this about you - I'm being honest with the impression you give to those who use reason in discourse.

Children are not destroyed for life by molestation. That is an unfair branding of a victim and it needs to stop. We are ostracizing them and telling them their lives are ruined and destroyed. How can one expect a child to rise above their background if we constantly shove it in their face that they can't - they are a victim.

I believe that God CAN transform anyone who truly asks Him to do so. The problem is, we humans cannot ever know when that transformation has taken place, so we are entitled to be wary. We can even forgive him, but it is foolish not to keep track of these people.

The answer to this problem is for the first offense to be life in prison, no parole. I am talking about predatory child molesters, those who prey on YOUNG children, not the statutory rape stuff. They don't usually change and if they do change they can suffer the consequences for their crimes in prison.

I was also sexually abused and the damage done was very difficult to overcome growing up. I don't think people realize just how much damage is done either unless they have been through it. It was through the my faith in Christ and His healing touch that I was healed and set free.

I have worked with convicted pedophiles as a case manager and they all reoffended and ended up back in jail. You are right, parents of children had better stay on top of things and watch out for the red flags. Most of the more adept perps are like pied pipers for children. They are very manipulative and can be quite charming. The cunning ones don't LOOK like your average chester the molester.

you are right only God can erase the guilt and pain you feel. Children always feel like they are at fault. Now I can spot a pervert a mile away and I am right 99% of the time. I also watched my children and now my grandchildren sometimes too close i think. very rarely were my children allowed to spend the night at other people's home.

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